Área marina y costera protegida Lafken Mapu Lahual, Marine protected area in Osorno Province, Chile

Lafken Mapu Lahual is a protected marine and coastal area covering 5,431 hectares, including a 32-kilometer shoreline between Punta Tiburón and Punta Lobería and one nautical mile of sea from the high tide line. It also takes in the estuaries of the Huellelhue and Cholhuaco rivers. The land side lies in the Valdivian temperate forest, with native coastal forest that remains relatively intact.

The area received official protection status in December 2005 through government decree. This designation reflected efforts to safeguard the region's vulnerable marine and forest ecosystems from extractive industries.

The Mapuche Huilliche communities have lived along this coast for generations and continue to practice sustainable harvesting from the sea. You can observe how local people maintain their connection to the land and ocean through their daily activities.

The Mapu Lahual community parks network is reached by paved road from Osorno along Ruta U-40. The marine section runs one nautical mile from the high tide line between Punta Tiburón and Punta Lobería, south of Bahía Mansa. Boat trips and trails are run by the Huilliche communities of Huellelhue, Ñirehue and Caleta Cóndor; Pichimallay park lies at Maicolpue, Río Sur sector.

The site harbors over 700 different marine species alongside hundreds of plant species, creating one of South America's less recognized biodiversity hotspots. This wealth of life makes it a rare location where temperate forest and ocean ecosystems directly meet.